Nearly all the Halbas are now engaged in agriculture as tenants and
labourers. Seven zamindari estates are held by members of the caste,
six in Bhandara and one in Chanda, and they also have some villages
in the south of the Raipur and Drug Districts. It is probable that
they obtained this property in reward for military service, at the
period when they were employed in the armies of the Ratanpur kings
and of the Gond dynasty of Chanda. In the forest tracts of Dhamtari
they are considered the best cultivators next to the Telis, and they
show themselves quite able to hold their own in the open country,
where their villages are usually prosperous. In Bastar they still
practise shifting cultivation, sowing their crops on burnt-out patches
of forest. Though hunting is not now one of their regular occupations,
Mr. Gokul Prasad describes them as catching game by the following
method: Six or seven men go out together at night, tying round their
feet ghunghunias or two small hollow balls of brass with stones inside
which tinkle as they move, such as are worn by postal runners. They
move in Indian file, the first man carrying a lantern and the others
walking behind him in its shadow. They walk with measured tread,
and the ghunghunias give out a rhythmical harmonious sound. Hares
and other small animals are attracted by the sound, and at the same
time half-blinded by the light, so that they do not see the line
of men. They approach, and are knocked over or caught by the men
following the leader.